Some perspectives of unaccompanied minors themselves on their mental health and well-being

Studies have asked UMIs themselves about their experiences, what kind of help they would like to receive, and what could help them at different stages of the integration process. Many UMIs appreciate similar things: to have an adult contact who I can trust and who cares about me, to get an education, to be a normal young person. A systematic review by the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU, 2018) highlights the experiences and perceptions of unaccompanied minors with respect to factors which facilitate or hinder their social integration, physical and mental health, and ability to function. 22

The review identified seven comprehensive themes:

• Security and control: A basic prerequisite that has a pronounced effect on everyday life and well-being as well as the ability to cope with daily issues and difficulties. • New country: Both opportunities and difficulties, strong motivation for education and new life opportunities but structural and social barriers exist. • Coping with difficulties: A balance of various coping strategies such as avoidance, flight, and positive thinking, with religion perceived as meaningful. • Daily environment: Supportive relationships, influence on accommodation, and access to school and activities are important.

• Relationships: Support and guidance from adults is meaningful, contact with those of the same age is important but also difficult. • Social services and health and medical care: Varying perceptions and experiences of support and need. • Identity and belonging: Accommodating the past, the present, and the future; retaining language and culture while adapting to the new.

A study by Jarlby, Goosen, Derluyn, Vitus, and Smith Jervelund (2018) highlights the perspectives of the UMIs themselves on healing and the mental health care offered to them. Refugee adolescents associate traditional conversational therapy with discussing negative and stigmatising aspects of their past. This is felt to be meaningless and inadequate in terms of improving their mental health, and it also carries the risk of re-traumatisation. The UMIs describe formal, stigmatising, and at times frightening one-to-one sessions with a psychologist in a clinical setting. What they would need instead is a community-based approach in an informal setting in their everyday lives, which has a de-stigmatising effect. Collective-oriented therapies have shown an effect on mental health. Such therapies include peer-to-peer interventions and artistic expressions of UMIs’ stories, which also fosters social support. Social, physical, and artistic activities were deemed helpful, but social support and strong social bonds were the most important factor. Table 3 below summarises both the impeding and promoting factors identified by the UMIs.

Table 3. Impeding and promoting factors for adolscent UMIs´mental health

Impeding factors Promoting factors

– Missing my family – Needing someone to talk to – Feeling lonely and isolated – Lacking support to engage in physical and social acitivites – Being unemployed and lack of money – Feeling uncertain about the future – Thinking about and/or talking about bad experiences from the past (over and over again) – Having excessive thoughts – Experiencing physical pain – Having disturbances with sleep – Others are judging me as deviant – Others misunderstand me – Experiencing racism – Lacking content and meaning in daily life – Relocation from one place to another – Experiencing too many system requirements – My family is doing well – Talking with/being surrounded by good people – Going to school – Learning Danish (with native-born peers) – Working and earning money – Dreaming about a good future – Focusing on the here-and-now – Playing and listening to good music – Walking in nature – Practising religion – Running, cycling, swimming, playing football – Eating good food (with others) – Being understood and respected as a human being – Helping others – A purpose and meaning in life